


If You Call, I Will Answer

by agentx13 (rebelle_elle)



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, sharon carter appreciation month
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-16
Updated: 2016-03-16
Packaged: 2018-05-27 01:33:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6264361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebelle_elle/pseuds/agentx13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>The family received a visit from her aunt Peggy the Christmas when she was four, and Peggy sat her down between nerf battles and tickle fights to teach her a new number, one she was to call first thing if she was in trouble. Peggy explained that there were bad people in the world, and if any of them ever hurt her, she was to call the number as soon as she could.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	If You Call, I Will Answer

The first thing Sharon Carter’s family said she had to remember was her home phone number. She was too young when her parents started to teach her; she couldn’t reach the phone, and she wouldn’t have known how to use it if she _had_ been able to reach it. It took her weeks to learn the number, longer still to learn how to use the phone.

The family received a visit from her aunt Peggy the Christmas when she was four, and Peggy sat her down between nerf battles and tickle fights to teach her a new number, one she was to call first thing if she was in trouble. Peggy explained that there were bad people in the world, and if any of them ever hurt her, she was to call the number as soon as she could.

Peggy made her recite the number every time they saw each other.

Sharon was too young to realize it, but her life would revolve around phone calls. She had to call her parents to let them know when plans changed, call them when she arrived safely, call them when she was ready to go. When she complained, her parents explained that there were bad people in the world. It came to be one of the truths that she took for granted. Pizza was the best food ever, Santa wouldn’t deliver gifts until she fell asleep, and there were bad people in the world.

She got a cell phone when she turned thirteen. It was the latest Stark model, and she thought at the time it was cutting edge (several Stark phones later, she would realize how large and clunky her first Stark phone was). She was one of the first in her class to have a cell phone, but unlike Mark Caspar in homeroom, she didn’t flaunt it. Her parents had made it clear that it was only to be used to call them or the emergency number. She was old enough then to understand that Peggy’s job was dangerous enough that her family members were targets. She understood why it was important for people to know where she was and whom she was with. 

She thought sometimes that a lot of her family members resented the extra security precautions. She remembered the family reunion where her cousins talked about Peggy getting one of her nephews killed. Sharon had questioned them and found out that James had died in a car accident, and Sharon had yelled at them for blaming Peggy for it. A fight had ensued, and though she received the worst of it, she kept swinging at them until her father dragged her away.

After that, she sat with Peggy at family reunions almost out of spite of the rest of her family and glared at her cousins whenever they passed by.

“They said something, did they?” Peggy asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said sourly. “They’re stupid.”

Peggy took a sip of her tea. “Keep your thumb outside your fists next time. A broken thumb is more bother than you need.”

She asked her parents to sign her up for self-defense classes. She had to reassure them that it wasn’t because she was scared, but in the end they agreed. It was in her self-defense class that she noticed a couple of the girls moved differently. It turned out they all did dance and gymnastics, and Sharon signed up for those, too. No one was going to beat her up like her cousins had ever again.

Without telling her parents, she started learning more about what her great-aunt did. The dial-up in the living room was too slow, but the library had books on spying and WWII, Captain America and the Howling Commandos.

When Peggy called to ask what she might want for her birthday, Sharon hesitated, then said, “A book that doesn’t lie so much about the Commandos.”

“Pardon?”

Sharon played with the phone cord. “You’re Director of SHIELD. You wouldn’t be if the other books were right about you just being Captain America’s friend.”

“Is that what they’re calling me now?” Peggy sounded amused.

“Potential special friend,” Sharon amended.

Peggy hummed. “Very well. Anything else?”

She paused. Her parents would _not_ approve of what she really wanted. One of her cousins had been shot outside a bar at his college, and no one was sure if it had been an intentional hit or not. They were already talking about moving away. “No, that’s it.”

There was a pause on Peggy’s end as well. “Very well. I’ll call you again on your birthday. Good night, Sharon.”

“Good night, Aunt Peggy.”

On her birthday, she unwrapped a heavy book with thin pages and a thick cover. The note attached explained that the book was meant for academia, but they’d sent Peggy an advance copy. Inside, she found notations in Peggy’s precise scrawl, correcting some details and adding details to other bits.

When she called, Peggy invited her to Washington for a weekend.

On the trip, she asked what Sharon really wanted that she hadn’t wanted to say in front of her parents. Sharon returned home with a new gun and a couple shooting lessons under her belt.

“Being able to defend oneself is important,” Peggy had told her at the range. “Whether or not you ever have to, knowing that you _can_ handle a situation makes a world of difference.”

She was fifteen when the cell phone rang. She didn’t recognize the ring tone at first, but when she realized that the phone was ringing - it never rang - she grabbed it and ignored the teacher’s glare. “Hello?”

“Good. You’re all right.” Peggy’s tone was brisk. “I want you to go to the principal’s office. I’m sending someone to pick you up. Don’t leave with anyone else, understand?”

“I understand.” Sharon gathered her bags. “Who’s picking me up?”

“His name is Nick Fury.” Sharon committed the physical description that followed to memory and hefted her backpack onto her shoulder. She strode out of class without glancing at the teacher. Whatever was going on, it was enough for Peggy to call the emergency phone; walking out of class was likely the least of her problems. “He has a phrase you’ll recognize. I’ll see you when you get here.”

Sharon waited in the principal’s office for twenty minutes before a black SUV pulled up. She watched a man in a black leather duster walk toward the entrance, spotting the way he checked his surroundings, pretending not to see his holster so the secretaries didn’t get upset.

He looked at her as he came in. “You learn how to keep your thumbs outside your fists yet?”

She shrugged and got to her feet. “ID.”

He lifted an eyebrow before handing over his SHIELD badge. 

She studied it closely, as if she knew how to spot a fake even though this was only the second SHIELD badge she’d ever held in her life, then nodded to the secretaries. “He’s taking me home today. It’s an emergency.” She handed his badge back.

The secretaries looked at each other. They knew what Aunt Peggy did for a living. They were on the road to the airport within minutes.

“Was it a car accident?”

He looked over at her. “What makes you say that?”

“My parents don’t hang out at bars.”

He hesitated. “You need to talk to the Director.”

Of course, that told her all she needed to know.

Peggy was busy when they reach the Triskellion, surrounded by agents who are scanning the perimeter. Sharon wondered if it was like this every time someone close to Peggy was killed in an accident. Not for the fist time, she wondered how much Peggy sacrificed in her life, and for what.

Agent Fury walked Sharon past them all and stood beside her until Peggy got off the phone and saw her. Peggy wasn’t a hugger; no one in the Carter family was, but this was evidently a special occasion. Sharon was wrapped in a hug and called darling, and when Peggy was certain that Sharon was physically all right, sent everyone else out of the room.

She already knew what Peggy was going to tell her, had known since the phone call, but that didn’t make it any easier to hear.

Peggy asked Agent Fury to take a couple agents to get things from Sharon’s house; Sharon wouldn’t be allowed back until SHIELD was satisfied that there were no threats to her safety. Protocol, Peggy explained. Sharon had the wherewithal to ask for her book on the Commandos and her gun, which made Fury raise an eyebrow. 

That night, she set the book on the bed in Peggy’s guest room where she’d be staying for the foreseeable future. She’d thought she could take comfort from it, but instead she sat in her pajamas (Agent Fury seemed good enough, but clothes for teenage girls seemed to confuse him; it seemed he’d just emptied all of her clothes into grocery bags) and stared at it.

She had grown up knowing that there were dangers to being a spy. When a cousin she’d never met died in a car crash, or a distant cousin was shot outside a bar, she never felt as if she’d known those people. They were real, yes, but they were real the way wars abroad or celebrities were real; they existed, but they had little to no impact on Sharon’s life.

But her parents were real. They were real in a way they never again would be. Her mother would never again criticize her lack of makeup, her father would never again lecture her about making good grades. They wouldn’t make terrible jokes at the dinner table, or ask her how her day was, or trip over the shoes she left in the family room.

If Peggy hadn’t been Director of SHIELD, they might still be alive.

The funeral was three days later, the caskets closed. For three days, Sharon wandered around Peggy’s house, not required nor encouraged to go to school. She was never alone; if Peggy wasn’t home, there were always several SHIELD agents. Fury in particular seemed to spend a lot of time there, sitting at her aunt’s breakfast table and eating cereal.

“Why are you on babysitting duty?” she asked the second day.

“Because the Director trusts me. And since I picked you up, they figure you might feel more comfortable with me around than agents you don’t know.”

She poured herself some cereal and milk and sat across from him. “So they think my parents were killed to get to Aunt Peggy?”

“No proof. Either way, her enemies have gotta be hoping it’ll throw her off her game.” No proof, but Peggy has to consider that someone was behind it. He chewed a mouthful of Kellogg’s. “Gotta say. You’re taking this better than I thought you would.”

She poked at her cereal with her spoon. “Yeah, well. What else am I going to do?”

They ate silently after that, Sharon cleaning her bowl before going to her room and thinking yet again how Peggy could think all of this loss was worth it.

The funeral was attended by family and friends, and Sharon knew instinctively that this was the last time she would see most of them. Her cousin looked her in the eye as he walked past and said he’d told her so. Peggy, beside her throughout the funeral, held Sharon’s hand.

“Timing is important, darling,” she murmured. And Sharon wondered again how Peggy could think her family’s disdain and their deaths supposedly on her hands could possibly be worth it.

It was another week before she opened the book. The stories were no longer as fun. They weren’t as distant. The names of the people who had died were still just names, but now she saw them in relation to the people who had survived. The dead were people with friends, with family, with hopes and dreams. Had they felt their deaths were worth it?

At dinner, sitting quietly with Peggy, she pretended not to notice how Peggy’s eyes kept going to the folders on the kitchen counter.

“Do you think the Howling Commandos who died ever regretted signing up?” she asked quietly.

Peggy’s fork froze halfway to her mouth. “No. No, I can’t imagine they did.”

“But they signed up to fight Hydra.”

“Yes, they did.”

“Hydra isn’t around anymore.”

“No, they aren’t.” Peggy twirled her fork, her eyes glancing back to the folders.

“Mom and Dad didn’t sign up to fight Hydra.”

Slowly, Peggy put her fork down. Her voice was solemn. “No, they didn’t.”

Sharon kept her eyes on her food. The silence stretched on. Still unsure of what she wanted to say, she managed to whisper only a word - “ _Why?_ ” She hadn’t cried when she got the phone call, didn’t cry when she was told about her parents. She didn’t cry at the funeral. But now, everything spilled over, and Peggy’s arms were around her, Peggy’s hand smoothing her air.

Later, with her head on Peggy’s lap on the living room couch, Peggy said, “There are bad people in the world, Sharon. There always have been, and there always will be. I wish I could tell you that there will always be someone ready to stand up against them, but the fact is that you can’t be sure someone will stand against them unless you do it yourself.” Sharon didn’t respond, exhausted and headachy from crying like she hadn’t cried in years. “I will always regret that my career has put those I love in danger, but I cannot regret choosing to follow this path.” Peggy stroked her hair, and Sharon sniffled. “I never wanted to- Your parents were not the first who might have died simply because they knew me. But I have saved the world multiple times, saved individual lives countless times. I have to believe that your parents and all the others would approve. I have to believe that the people who are alive are worth it.”

Sharon bit her lip. “How? At the family reunions-” She swallowed.

“Oh, yes. I know why you got into that fight,” Peggy said, amused. “And I was glad you punched him, since it would look bad if I had done it myself.” She quieted. “I try to remember the people who survive,” she said at last. “The people who went home to their families. The children who made it safely to school. Sometimes I know their names, sometimes they were simply in range of a catastrophic event and I will never know them all. And on the days when that doesn’t feel like enough, I have a liquor cabinet.”

When Sharon woke the next morning, Peggy was gone, and she could hear Fury eating in the kitchen. She fixed herself some cereal. They ate in silence.

Dropping her spoon into the empty bowl, she asked, “Why did you join SHIELD?”

He looked at her, gauging her, and said, “No good reason not to.”

“Even though it puts everybody you know at risk?”

He shrugged. “Don’t have to worry about that. Everybody I know outside of SHIELD is already dead.”

She carried her bowl to the sink.

“There are bad people out there,” he said thoughtfully. “I wanted to put the hurt on them.”

She turned to look at him. “That’s it?”

“That’s all I’m telling you.”

She nodded and went to her bedroom. It felt too much like hers to think of it as the guest room anymore.

When she and Peggy were alone again, she asked, “What if I wanted to join SHIELD?”

Peggy didn’t look away from her files, but Sharon was sure Peggy was aware of her. “Go to college first,” she said calmly. “No need to rush into it.”

“I could take classes at the Academy.”

“College will give you more experience with people who aren’t spies. That will come in more useful than Academy classes.”

Sharon didn’t move for several minutes. Peggy didn’t take as many notes, obviously waiting for her to speak again. “No one else in the family is going to take me in, are they?”

Peggy pursed her lips and raised her head. “It isn’t your fault.”

“It’s because I’m with you so much, isn’t it.”

Peggy lowered her eyes. “I’m afraid you’ve become something of a favorite, and I have not hidden it as I ought.” She inhaled. “But I’m afraid you can’t stay here. It’s far too dangerous.”

Sharon frowned. She’d never known Peggy to be paranoid. If Peggy thought there was something going on, there was something going on. “You really do think someone killed Mom and Dad.”

Her fingers tapped against her papers. “I have no proof, but yes. And that means- There are boarding schools I would like you to consider.”

Sharon’s heart fell. “Boarding schools.”

“Don’t look like that, darling. They all have international students and are extremely challenging. No matter what you decide to do in the rest of your life, these schools will give you an excellent foothold. They also have security that satisfies even me, and two of them have gun ranges.” She looked steadily at Sharon. “I promise to always be available to you via phone unless I’m in a meeting with the World Security Council or dismantling a bomb.”

She sighed. “Tell me more about the two with the gun ranges.”

Peggy smiled and held up two files from the bottom of the pile.

Sharon took them, then bent to give Peggy a light hug. “You’ve become something of a favorite with me, too.”

Most of their conversations after that were over the phone. Sharon still went to Peggy’s over the summers, where she ribbed Fury and met Natasha Romanoff, who Barton had brought in and Fury had taken under his wing.

When she and Peggy weren’t around one another, they talked at least once a week. Sharon graduated from boarding school, went to college and studied political science and anything else she thought might come in useful. She applied to the Academy of Operations and got high marks on her entrance exam. Through it all, she kept Peggy abreast of her life. They both agreed that they would downplay their relationship to each other as much as possible, not just for Sharon’s safety, but for her to stand or fall on her own.

A year before she graduated, the emergency phone rang again, and Sharon dove for it from across the room. There was only one person left that mattered to her, only one reason for the phone to ring.

“Sharon!” Peggy exclaimed. “Why is your parents’ phone disconnected? I’ve been trying to call them for nearly half an hour!”

“Aunt Peggy? What are you talking about?”

“Your _parents._ ” Peggy’s voice was angry. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of them. At least _you’re_ answering. Now what’s this nonsense about your parents disconnecting their phone?”

Sharon sat on her bed. “Aunt Peggy. Mom and Dad- they died years ago.”

The line was quiet. “Ah. My apologies. Of course. Overworked, I suppose. I should get back to it. Glad you’re all right, darling.”

Peggy hung up before she could answer, and Sharon wasted no time in calling Fury.

“What the _hell_ is going on with Aunt Peggy?” she demanded.

Fury sighed. “Yeah, we should talk.”

Peggy had shown symptoms for months, but now the signs were too obvious to ignore. Sharon skipped her graduation ceremony to look over assisted living facilities with Peggy, Fury, and Natasha. Only one met Peggy’s standards for comfort, Sharon’s for experienced healthcare employees, Fury’s for employees who could kill if they had to, and Natasha’s for security.

“I’m making arrangements. I hope you don’t mind, Nick, but I’ve recommended you as my replacement. Pierce is only too happy to allow it, given that you saved his niece.”

“Great. I do one good deed, next thing you know they’re making me run SHIELD,” Fury griped.

Peggy rolled her eyes. “Oh, you’ll do fine.” She looked at Sharon and took her hand. “Watch out for her, won’t you?”

“Sure thing.” Fury made a face at Sharon, and Sharon made one back. “Treat her like my own daughter.”

“Oh, God,” Sharon moaned. “Can someone send me on a death-defying mission now?”

Only Fury knew that Sharon took the emergency phone with her on her first mission, then her second, then her third. The emergency number was the only one Peggy could always remember. Fury, officially the new Director of SHIELD, was careful to send her on missions that wouldn’t keep her away for long, and she was always called back to Washington to debrief.

She was home to help Fury and Natasha move Peggy into the assisted living facility. 

She was on a mission when Steve Rogers was discovered in the ice. Peggy called no matter the time now, almost always talking about how Steve had been found, sometimes talking about her friends who had died as if they were still alive.

Fury called her on the emergency phone and didn’t bother with pleasantries. “The Director’s gotten worse. And I’ve got a mission close to home for you.”

“What is it?” Part of her hoped he might have a lead on whoever might have killed her parents. She’d waited for years, even used her SHIELD knowledge to try and find a clue, but to no avail.

“Let’s just say I’ve already removed photos of you from the Director’s room. Don’t worry. I’ll still show her your picture when I go by to visit.”

Sharon’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”

“Because the good Captain visits her every day he can.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me, Nick.”

“See you at debrief.”

The debrief, it turned out, was horrible. It was the closest she had ever come to a fight with Fury. Why her? Was it because of Peggy? Why lie to Rogers?

But being in Washington wasn’t so bad. She had a cover story that allowed her to visit Peggy frequently, and even with the visits, Peggy still called day and night. Sharon knew better than to complain; there was no telling when she might lose the person who mattered the most to her. Besides, dementia or not, Peggy was still her favorite.

The only downside was Steve Rogers. He was at the assisted living facility and the Triskellion, and she found herself living a lie every time he was around. She grew skilled at ducking into supply closets when he was around.

And he was at home, too, or the closest thing she’d had to a home since the time she’d stayed with Peggy. She even ran into him when she was on the phone with Peggy, and her heart jumped into her throat as she greeted him with, “My aunt- She’s kind of an insomniac.”

It was kind of true, though. Peggy didn’t follow a regular sleep schedule anymore.

That night, Fury died, and Sharon drove out to the assisted living facility to sit with Peggy while she explained. Peggy didn’t recognize her, but Sharon tried to explain anyway. When she finally made progress, Peggy accused her of being an enemy agent.

When the Triskellion fell, the cell towers were overwhelmed. She couldn’t call Peggy to let her know what had happened, wasn’t sure if Peggy would even know who she was.

Her emergency phone rang while the police were still trying to decide whether to arrest the remaining SHIELD agents. She ignored their glares and answered it.

“Sharon, darling! Are you all right?”

Sharon’s shoulders slumped with relief. “Aunt Peggy. Yeah, I’m fine.” No thanks to Hydra. At least now she had a lead on who might have killed her parents. “Are you okay?”

“Of course I am! I’m more worried about you. You’ve become something of a favorite of mine, you know.”

Sharon grinned and pretended to rub her forehead so no one could see her wet eyes. It had been a long day, and this call was making all the difference. “You’ve become something of a favorite of mine, too. I love you. I’ve got to go, though.”

“Oh, yes,” Peggy said, sounding amused. “I imagine there’s quite a fuss where you are.”

“I might be getting arrested.” Peggy’s light-heartedness made it seem almost like a joke.

“Give them hell, darling.”

“I will, Aunt Peggy.” After all, there were still bad people in the world.

And Sharon was going to kick their ass.


End file.
